The state may need to consider whether the Alamo is under the right state agency, with the General Land Office as custodian, and the best contract operator — the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, he said.

“I believe it is our duty to ask these questions,” Villarreal, D-San Antonio, told the committee during the public hearing.

In the wake of opposition from Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, he said he's willing to alter his bill to let the Land Office have representation on an 11-member commission that would study the Alamo and surrounding area.

One major purpose of the bill is to maintain dignity in Alamo Plaza. It's now owned by the city, private interests and the federal government, which has a building on the north end.

“If you go there today, what you'll see is more of an amusement park kind of setting,” Villarreal said.

He said after the hearing that his “study bill” calls for non-binding recommendations, with a written report due to the Legislature by December 2014. It does not necessarily seek to replace the Land Office as custodian or DRT as its operator, he said.

A written summary of a revised version of the bill had said the commission would recommend “who should be the operator of the Alamo.” But bill text released Wednesday said it would hold at least four public meetings and recommend “a structure for the ongoing stewardship... including recommendations for the operator of the Alamo.”

Earlier in the day, Patterson testified against the bill, saying it threatened to undermine a 2011 law that gave his agency Alamo custodianship, and could damage progress the Land Office has made in developing relations with the DRT and Alamo staff.

Villarreal praised Patterson for his Alamo stewardship, but said he wants to be sure the shrine has the best long-term governance structure and management possible. Patterson has announced intent to run for lieutenant governor next year, and has said he won't seek re-election as commissioner.

Of five people who spoke at the hearing, no one was critical of the DRT or Land Office. Some of them shamed the city for not investing more to make the plaza more reverent and pedestrian-friendly, or for trying to use tax incentives to encourage amusement attractions in the plaza to relocate.

John L. Hinnant, a sixth-generation native Texan, lauded Villarreal, comparing him with early DRT activists and 1930s schoolchildren who raised money to turn the Alamo ruins into a historic site, while most “Texas men were not leaders.”

“He is to be applauded for his endeavor,” Hinnant said.

But Marco Barros, president and CEO of the San Antonio Area Tourism Council, said he's disappointed that his group was not asked for input on the bill. There have been at least three major research reports done in the past 20 years on improving the plaza, but little has been done, he said.

“The city has never put the right amount of money (into) the city budget to do this thing right,” Barros said.

The bill was filed in early March, in an attempt to develop a plan to improve historic interpretation and control commercialization around the state-owned Alamo complex.

Alamo enthusiasts initially hailed the bill as a way to regulate amusement business in the city-owned Alamo Plaza, where the main courtyard of the 1836 battle compound once stood. The area also is a former Spanish colonial mission where Indians lived and were buried.

Members of the legislative committee said they felt the oversight of the plaza belonged to San Antonio, which owns the site.

“It looks to me like the city of San Antonio ought to be the ones to step up,” said Ed Thompson, R-Pearland.

Amy Jo Baker, a former Texas history teacher, said during testimony that the state has some degree of responsibility to work with other entities to maintain decorum around the state shrine.

“The state of Texas needs to protect the interests of Alamo Plaza,” Baker said.

The Daughters now run the Alamo under a state contract, set to expire June 30, that could be extended for five years. Although the DRT had been the custodian since 1905, the group has been criticized in recent years for failing to maintain progress and structural preservation seen at four other San Antonio missions, prompting suggestions that a bidding competition be held for the operations contract.

In response to concerns about a decline in visitation and revenues at the state-owned Alamo complex, the Land Office has replaced DRT with a national vendor in operations of the Alamo Gift Shop, and has held to plans to let licensed caterers serve alcohol in Alamo Hall, a meeting facility available for rent for private functions. DRT leaders initially fought those plans, but have since focused on other matters, including the future of the Alamo's DRT Library, which has been closed for nearly three months to allow for an inventory to determine ownership of its 60,000-plus items.

The Land Office has maintained that the Daughters have done an admirable job of running the popular tourist destination, which last year drew 1.6 million visitors, according to a new counting system installed in late 2011.